The Girl Behind the Door
by bandgeek63
Summary: Prince Johan of Landvik is just like any other adventurous 14-year-old boy. When his father takes him on a business trip to Arendelle, he is eagar to discover the kingdom's mysteries. Boring as it was to watch the kings do business or play with young Princess Anna, he couldn't help but wish to glimpse the mysterious older princess, who always remained hidden behind a locked door...
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hello and welcome to "The Girl Behind the Door."**

**I was actually going to wait a little longer to post this story, but since half of the stories I follow don't ever update and most of them that do update are taking their good old time, I got kinda bored, so I figured why wait! ;-)**

**So something about this story: it is really all a bunch of fluff. It's filled with fluff! It's nothing but fluff! Some of it is fluff of fluff! (Ha! Try saying that ten times fast!) And, for the record, for those of you who read my other story, "Waiting For an Angel", I personally don't think that this story is as good as that one, but hey, you might think otherwise! So read and review, everyone!**

**Disclaimer: There are a lot of things I own. I own a bike. I own a cell phone. Heck, I even own a French horn! I do not, however, own Frozen.**

* * *

Prince Johan stood excitedly next to his father as the gates of Arendelle Castle opened before them. The castle was such a beautiful sight, and he couldn't believe that they were going to get to stay there for two weeks. He tried to keep a good posture in his royal uniform like his father taught him as they entered and walked toward the castle. Looking back, he saw the gates close tightly behind them.

King Magnus of Landvik was there in Arendelle with one main purpose: to get support in the war against Ljungborg. Ever since war had been declared on Landvik, the king had been trying to get support from Arendelle, their closest ally. Now, finally, the kings of both lands would meet to discuss it.

Meanwhile, Johan had come along too. Officially, his reason for accompanying his father on this trip was to learn about how the business of kings works. He needed to learn these things as heir to the throne, even though he really didn't want to be king.

But Johan had his own reasons for being there, too. He had heard all sorts of rumors back home about the mysterious little kingdom of Arendelle, where the castle gates remained locked to all. He couldn't contain his sense of adventure when he found out that he'd actually get to go inside this mysterious castle and stay there for two weeks. He was determined to discover the secrets that this castle held.

They walked through the doors, following two guards and a servant who seemed to be the head butler. Entering the throne room, Johan saw a man with dark red hair pacing in front of the throne. He came to a halt when he saw them enter, and the prince knew this must be the king of Arendelle. He suddenly felt that familiar jolt in his stomach that he always felt on the rare occasion that he met the monarch of another kingdom. He walked behind his father a bit, hoping to go unnoticed as they halted before the throne.

"Your majesty," the servant said, bowing, "King Magnus of Landvik."

Magnus bowed, and Johan followed his lead. The king nodded back and stepped down to greet them.

"I'm relieved to see that you've gotten here safely, Magnus," he said, holding out his hand, which Magnus took.

"Thank you, Oscar," Magnus said. "And thank you so much for having me here. I am truly grateful for your help."

King Oscar stiffened and promptly nodded. Then, for the first time, he took notice of Johan standing there. He seemed surprised to see the young prince standing there, but it also seemed to worry him.

"Oh," Oscar said, "who's this?"

"Oh, this is my son, Prince Johan," Magnus replied, patting his son on the back and pushing him forward slightly.

Oscar stared at Johan for a moment. The prince guessed that he was a bit wary of having a young teenage boy in the castle. Actually, he seemed a bit wary of having _anyone_ in the castle, although the reason why was anyone's guess.

Nevertheless, he gave Johan a formal smile and shook his hand. "Pleasure to meet you, my boy."

"Thank you, sir," Johan replied.

Oscar walked with them to his study as the servants brought their bags to their rooms. The two kings walked side by side, discussing the war, while Johan trailed a bit behind. He was impatiently waiting for something exciting to happen. All the rumors of the castle where no one goes in and no one comes out made him think that the place must be haunted. Or at least have something to hide.

In the study, he slouched against the wall by the door as the two men talked. Looking around, the room looked not much different than his father's study at home. Actually, the castle in general, while still beautiful, wasn't actually very much different from home. He was expecting a dark, creepy place that looked almost abandoned.

After several _long_ minutes, Magnus glanced at the prince, and laughed when he saw his son staring off into space.

"What?" Johan said.

"You look bored out of your mind," his father replied, shaking his head.

"No..." the prince lied, looking away.

Oscar chuckled too. "Reminds me of myself at that age, when my father took me on business trips."

"That's okay," Magnus said, "young boys are supposed to hate these types of things. I'm glad I've only got _one_ boy to deal with."

"You have two daughters too, don't you?" Oscar asked.

Magnus nodded. "Mm-hmm. Leah and Julie."

"How are they?"

"They're good. They're all growing up too fast though," Magnus said glancing at Johan, who simply rolled his eyes.

"Believe me I know the feeling," Oscar said.

"And how are your daughters, Elsa and Anna?"

Johan glanced back at the pair upon hearing this. He hadn't realized there were other children in the castle. He could use the company, even if it was _girl_ company.

The king seemed to hesitate to answer. "They're hanging in there..." he said, earning him curious looks from the others. "We've just been having some... family troubles. Elsa has been... going through a rough time."

"Forgive me for asking," Magnus said. "I understand if you don't want to talk about it."

"That's okay," Oscar reassured him. "Anyway, Anna gets very lonesome at times, too, without anyone to talk to."

"Huh," Magnus said, looking at Johan. "Why don't you go find Princess Anna, son? I'm sure she'd appreciate your company."

"That's a good idea!" Oscar agreed.

"Uhh..." Johan said awkwardly. When he thought of excitement, entertaining a lonely little girl wasn't exactly what he had in mind. But what was he going to say? _No?_ "... sure. I guess."

"I think she's in the portrait gallery," Oscar said. "Down the hall, to the left, up the stairs. You can't miss it."

"Thanks," Johan said as he exited the room.

Soon enough he found the doors that led to the massive portrait gallery. Inside, he heard a small voice.

"...and he never knew what hit him!"

Johan peeked in through the door that was slightly ajar and saw the young girl laying on a bench and looking up at a portrait of Joan of Arc. She had red hair like her father's, with one platinum blonde streak on her right side. She continued telling the painting her story.

"So, I made my escape with the chocolate, and now it will never be seen again."

Johan rolled his eyes and silently groaned to himself. This girl was _crazy._

He pushed open the door and entered the room. The girl looked back at him upside down from her position on the bench when she heard the noise. For a few moments she stared at him, until finally he broke the awkward silence.

"Hi," he said.

"Uh... hi." The girl looked at him in disbelief, as if he were from another planet.

"I'm Johan."

Slowly, she sat herself up, not looking away from him. "What are you doing here?" she asked. "Usually no one is allowed in the castle."

"I'm here with my father, King Magnus of Landvik."

At these reassuring words, her face lit up. "Oh!" she said more excitedly now. "You're from Landvik?"

"Yeah," he said walking over to stand next to the bench.

"Oh, cool!" she exclaimed. "I'm Anna." He nodded in greeting as she lay back down and addressed the painting. "And this is Joan."

Johan looked awkwardly up at the painting. "Hello," he said.

"We talk a lot when everyone else is busy," Anna continued.

"I see," Johan said. "So, um, Anna, how old are you?"

"Eleven," she replied. "How old are you?"

"Fourteen."

The little girl gasped in excitement as she rolled onto her stomach to be able to see Johan. "My sister is fourteen!" she exclaimed.

"Really?" Johan said, pretending to be interested.

"Yeah!" She gasped again as a thought struck her. "C'mon, you have to come meet her!"

As Anna got up, Johan remembered some of the things King Oscar had been saying about his other daughter.

"Uhh, Anna? I-"

But she was already dashing out of the room. "Catch me if you can!"

"Anna, wait!"

Johan chased after her down the stairs into another corridor of the castle that he hadn't seen yet. He shivered as the air suddenly got colder.

"It's cold down here," he said.

"Oh, it's always cold down here," Anna replied. "It's probably that window."

Johan wondered how there would be a draft this cold in the middle of summer.

They arrived at a white door with snowflakes on it, and the closer they got to it, the colder it seemed to get.

Anna rapped on the door. "Elsa? Elsa, we have company! The king from Landvik is here, and his son Johan is here too and he's fourteen just like you!"

Anna paused for a moment. Hearing no response, she called out again. "C'mon Elsa, let's all go play!"

Again there was no response. Johan almost wondered if anyone was really in there. But he knew that the door wouldn't be locked if there wasn't.

Anna opened her mouth to say something again, but instead she sighed in defeat and sat up against the wall beneath the window. Johan looked between the girl and the door, trying to think of something to say as he kneeled down next to the young princess.

"You know," he said, "maybe your sister just doesn't want to be bothered right now."

"Nah, she never opens the door," Anna said. "She never leaves that room."

Johan stared at the door again. He wondered how this happened. While all this sweet little girl desired was the company of her older sister, she got nothing but the cold shoulder. He wondered why this girl, Princess Elsa, stayed locked in her room without company all the time and shut people out.

It occurred to Johan that this was the true excitement that he would find here, but now he sought more than just adventure.

He turned back to Anna. "Hey, why don't you introduce me to some of your other painting friends? I'd love to meet them."

She smiled up at him and her face lit up once again. "Ok!" she said. She got up and started dragging him back the way they came.

He took one last look at the door. He almost felt as if there were eyes watching him from the other side. He now had a mission: he would discover more about the girl behind the door.

.:.^*^.:.

Elsa sighed as she leaned against the keyhole on her door. _These walls aren't as thick as they think._

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**Thanks for reading the first chapter guys, and don't forget to leave me your thoughts in the reviews!**

_**Read on, write on, dream on. -bandgeek63**_


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thanks to all the people who favorited, followed, and reviewed this story.**

**Just a note: this story will follow the same updating pattern as "Waiting For an Angel", which is Sundays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. And just fyi, I have something important this Tuesday night. I still should most likely be able to update, but just in case I'm not able to, that's why.**

**There is something I'd like to point out about part of this chapter, but it'd make more sense for me to point it out after you've read the chapter, so I'll see you at the bottom of the page!**

**Disclaimer: No, I don't own Frozen. Get over it.**

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They were in the section of the gallery that contained portraits of all of the members of the royal family, past and present. Johan took particular notice of one of the last paintings she showed him.

"... And this is me and Elsa when I was about five, I think."

The prince looked up at the portrait of the two little girls, sitting closely together. Anna looked as though she could never be happier, sitting there posing for a painting. Johan noticed that there was no white streak in her hair in the painting, but he supposed that the artist simply didn't bother putting it in.

He turned his attention to the other princess, and for the first time he got to see what she looked like. She had bright blue eyes, just like her sister, pale skin, and her hair was so blonde it was practically white. She was cute as a child in the picture, and Johan imagined that the older she got, the more beautiful she became.

But he wouldn't let her beauty faze him. Sooner or later, he would make sure that this girl suffered for pushing her poor little sister away when all she wanted was her company.

He glanced at Anna, who sighed as she stared up at the painting.

"You two look so happy in this picture," he commented.

"Yeah," she replied. "We were really close when we were little."

Johan looked at the picture again and back at the little girl.

"Well, what happened?"

"I don't know," she replied. "We had been so happy, but then, one day, she just shut me out and... I never knew why."

The prince stared at the little girl in sympathy and then back at the painting. He wondered how the two sweet little girls that stared back at him, who looked practically inseparable, could have possibly been split apart. What could have happened that caused Elsa to shut everyone out?

His thoughts were interrupted as the doors to the portrait gallery opened. The two children turned around to see King Oscar standing in the doorway.

"Oh, there you two are!" he said.

"Papa!" Anna exclaimed as she ran across the room and hugged her father tightly, knocking the wind out of him.

"You get stronger every day," the king said between gasps. Anna chuckled and shrugged as Johan walked over to where they stood.

"Alright kids," Oscar said. "C'mon, it's time for dinner."

.:.^*^.:.

Elsa paced her bedroom, pondering the arrival of the foreign dignitaries. No one had ever stayed in the castle since before the gates were shut. This would make hiding her powers a little more difficult, especially with another child running around.

She stared at her reflection in the mirror. Her reflection was sort of like her conscience, helping her keep at least a _little_ bit of sanity. Still, whenever she heard voices, it was usually her own reflection, mocking her.

"It's only for two weeks; I can do it," Elsa said.

_But what if you can't?_ the reflection seemed to say.

"Don't say that; I can do it!"

_Are you sure?_

Elsa stopped in her tracks as she considered. Was she sure?

_Look you just have to make sure you do what Mama and Papa told you and not leave the room until they leave,_ the reflection said.

"At all?"

_At all._

"But I don't know how long I can live like that!"

_It's not like you leave the room much normally anyway. Just for meals, and even that is a rare occasion._

"I know, but at least it was something! I don't know how much longer I can handle this! I feel like I'm trapped inside my own worst nightmare! I can't leave the room, even with all the pressure from Anna, and now I'm gonna have that prince knocking at the door with her... and..."

Elsa stopped as frost crept up the walls. She looked back at the mirror, and her reflection gave her a scornful look.

_You know you're talking to yourself again?_

Elsa sighed as she flopped down onto the bed. "I know," she said.

She stared up at the ceiling, thinking about the prince. She couldn't really see him very well through the keyhole earlier, but there was no mistaking the look on his face. He felt bad for Anna, and now he wanted to get Elsa for causing her sister so much pain. Honestly, Elsa didn't blame him.

_Don't beat yourself up over that prince guy, Elsa. He's not gonna be able to do anything to you, and he just feels bad for Anna,_ her reflection said.

"I know," Elsa said. "But what if I do go crazy enough that I try to leave the room for something and I run into him?"

_What is he gonna do? Try to get you to show your powers in front of everyone? He doesn't even know._

"No, but then what if he tells someone he saw me and Papa finds out I left the room? Then I'm really gonna get it! Especially if Anna finds out too!"

_Well I've got a simple solution to that._

Elsa turned her head to the mirror. "What?"

_Don't leave the room!_

"Thanks," the princess replied sarcastically. "Now you're just gonna make me go even crazier."

_You don't have to listen to me. I'm just saying that's the only way to _guarantee _that won't happen. Nothing says that will happen if you leave._

"Well, I'm not gonna worry about that right now," Elsa said. "Let's wait to worry about that until I actually do go that crazy."

She looked back at the ceiling, trying to get her mind off the precocious prince.

_He was kinda cute though._

Elsa looked back at herself. "What?"

_The prince. You know he was._

"I could barely see him!"

_But he was still cute. _

"Sure, from _my _lame perspective! I don't really have anything to compare him to!"

_Well, it doesn't matter anyway_, the reflection taunted._ Even if you did like him, it would never be possible. You can never get into a relationship with someone. You can never have a family, and therefore you can never provide Arendelle with an heir. And, if people find out about your powers, they'll hate you. They'll resent you! You be remembered in history as the wicked and evil "Snow Queen"!_

Elsa panted heavily as the voice, her own, laughed evilly at her. She couldn't handle all the taunts from a figment of her own imagination, and she buried her face into a pillow and cried.

.:.^*^.:.

Johan lay silently in his bed, listening for even the slightest movement of anything. He stared at the ceiling, imagining the mysterious princess doing the same thing.

Anna had been so disappointed when she realized that Elsa would not be having dinner with them until after he and his father went home. Queen Sarah had used the excuse that Elsa was very "shy" around people. If ever there was an extreme understatement about something, that was it.

Johan just didn't get it. What did Princess Elsa have to hide so badly? How could she live with herself knowing that she was causing her sister so much grief and pain? Why would she _want _to lock herself in her room away from other people?

Johan didn't know if there actually was a suitable explanation for her behavior, but he didn't really care. He would see to it that Elsa would be regretting the day she stepped foot into that room.

He nodded satisfactorily to himself as sleep finally found him.

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**Okay. So, I'd like to point out that the whole thing with the mirror is not just to show that Elsa has lost her marbles! There is a bit more symbolism to it than that. It really is kind of meant to show Elsa's inner battle, and how she's really at war with herself. It's also meant to show how alone she really is, because she really is her own best friend... and at the same time she's her own worst enemy! **

**If there's any other way that you guys are tending to interpret it, let me know, because I'd love to know your perspectives on it! ;-)**

_**Read on, write on, dream on. -bandgeek63**_


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: And here I was worried I wouldn't have time to update! I've got nothing but time!**

**Okay, so remember how I said that some of this story was "fluff of fluff"? Well, this chapter defiantly qualifies as such, as it really does not have much point but to fill time. But whatever. Just read and review. I promise the next chapter will be more interesting.**

**Disclaimer: I don't think there was ever anyone out there who thought I owned Frozen, but on the off chance that there was, I don't.**

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"Look, Magnus, you know I want to help you, but I don't want to send my forces into the war!"

In the king's study, about three days later, Johan sat next to his father, trying his best to remain focused and pay attention to the matter at hand.

"I understand that, Oscar," Magnus said. "All I am asking for is the supplies and weapons that we need for the war. We would pay for it of course!"

"You don't have the money right now to pay for it, though. You've used much of it on the war already," Oscar replied.

_He has a point,_ Johan thought. Landvik was a rather poor country, and they had always known that should they be pulled into a war it would be a financial crisis.

"But after the war," Magnus argued, "if we win, we'll make Ljungborg pay reparations for all damages and financial debts that Landvik has sustained as a result of the war, which would give us the money to repay you."

"And if you don't win?" Oscar said. "God forbid it, but we must keep in mind that it could be a very real possibility."

Magnus sighed and leaned back in his chair. "Then I guess we would just have to pay off a long-term debt to you."

Oscar tapped his fingers on the desk, thinking of the consequences. "I am still very concerned that such an action would drag Arendelle into the war."

Magnus thought about this. "I don't wish to bring your forces into the war, my friend," he said, "but I can promise you that should Ljungborg declare war on you, I would see to it that my forces would protect Arendelle at all costs."

Oscar sighed as he slouched back into his chair. "But I don't wish for it to come to that."

Silence fell upon the room as the two kings pondered how Arendelle could give the support to Landvik without being pulled into the conflict. Johan looked between the two as a thought hit him.

"Excuse me, sir," Johan said quietly, addressing King Oscar. "Might I mention something?"

Oscar looked at Magnus, who smiled and nodded, before addressing the prince. "Very well, my boy. Proceed."

"Well, I understand that Arendelle has a very good navy, is that correct?" Johan began.

The king looked at the boy's father, wondering where he was going with this. "Yes, I suppose so. Our navy has always been strong. But while that would help us should we become involved in the war, how would it help us stay out of the war?"

"Well even Ljungborg's navy wouldn't stand a chance against yours, and they know that," Johan said. "I would think that they wouldn't try to bring you into the war on our side because they know that you would crush them and they would lose the war."

"That's true," Magnus interrupted. "Nothing necessarily says that they would not declare war, but they would be foolish to do so because like he said, while their navy is strong, not even they would stand a chance against you. And I would think they would not dare attack any of your ships with supplies to avoid antagonizing you any further."

Oscar pondered this. "Well," he said, "it would still be risky, but you make a good point. I will make sure it is brought up at the council meeting on this later this week."

Johan smiled as the king nodded approvingly to him. He suddenly felt very helpful.

"Now then, gentlemen," Oscar continued, "in the meantime I have work to do, if you don't mind."

"Of course," Magnus said as he stood and gave a small bow. "Thank you for your time, sir. Come along, son."

Johan stood and followed his father out of the study. They walked together down the hall.

"Good thinking in there, son," Magnus said, patting his son on the back. "I would never have thought of that."

"I'm glad to be of help," Johan replied.

"Well, you think you could join me in looking for some books on the subject in the library?" the king asked.

"Sure," Johan said, shrugging. He didn't have much else to do.

Upon entering the library, the pair saw a few books scattered across the floor, where Princess Anna lay on her stomach, reading. She looked up when she saw them enter.

"Hi, Johan!" she said.

"Hey, Anna!" the prince replied, smiling.

"I'm working on some homework I got from my tutor," Anna said, rolling her eyes. "You think you could help me?"

"Uhh..." Johan looked up at his father who smiled and nodded.

"Go on," Magnus said, "I'll just find a few books to take back to my quarters. You won't even know I'm here."

Johan shrugged and looked back at Anna. "Alright then."

The girl smiled in delight. Johan came over and sat next to her as Magnus began his search for books. Johan had been spending much of his free time with Anna, not being able to bear seeing the girl so alone.

The prince saw that Anna was reading an atlas. It was opened to a map of Scandinavia and Northern Europe. He quickly located Landvik on the map, as well as Arendelle. He also saw some of their other allies, like Corona, Weselton, and the Northern and Southern Isles. And it wasn't long before he spotted Ljungborg as well.

"I have to write a whole page on a current event," Anna complained.

"Gee, a _whole page?_" Johan said sarcastically. "Be glad it's not three. That's what my tutor usually makes me do."

Anna chuckled, and Johan saw his father leave the room with a stack of books out of the corner of his eye.

"Well, do you have any ideas?" Anna asked. "Maybe something you've heard about on your travels?"

"Travels?" Johan said. "This is a rare occasion for me. I don't travel much. In fact, at home I never really get out of the castle much."

"I never get out of the castle at all," Anna retorted.

Johan looked at the princess with sympathy. "How come?"

"Because they shut the gates."

The prince sighed. It had become obvious to him early on that the gates having been shut had something to do with Princess Elsa. The fact that Anna never got out was just another thing that Johan found himself blaming her for.

"Well," he said, "you could always do something on that war in the English colonies across the Atlantic. Everyone's been talking about that."

"Nah," Anna said. "She said it had to be something in or around Scandinavia." She lay her head down on the book, sighing until a thought struck her. "Isn't your kingdom at war right now?"

"What?"

"Isn't that why you came here? To get help from my father?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Maybe you could help me write about that!" she exclaimed. "You could tell me all about your kingdom!"

Johan chuckled. The girl was more curious about what the outside world was like than she cared about writing the paper. _One day,_ he thought to himself, _the gates will be opened again, and she'll get to see the world._

"Alright," he said, "we can do your paper on the war in Landvik."

* * *

**Do we want to talk about the fact that I had my history book open in front of me when I wrote this?**

_**Read on, write on, dream on. -bandgeek63**_


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I have to say that this is probably my favorite chapter in the whole story. I'm just gonna stop talking so you can find out why! ;-)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Frozen. I'm just a teenage girl with a love for all things Disney!**

* * *

_...so that she heard the clock begin to strike twelve when she thought it could not be more than eleven. She then rose up and fled, as nimble as a deer. The Prince followed, but could not overtake her. She left behind one of her glass slippers, which the Prince took up most carefully..._

Elsa groaned as she irritatedly dropped the book on the bed next to her.

"I can't take it anymore!" she exclaimed. Picking up the book, she threw it into the corner of the room where dozens of other books had also been thrown into a messy pile. "I've read every one of these stupid books over and over again!"

She looked into the mirror at her reflection, which shrugged at her.

_Then get someone to get you other books from the library._

"No, I've read all of them over and over again, too," Elsa replied to herself. She lay back down and held a pillow on top of her face. "What am I gonna _do?_" she yelled. "I'm losing my mind! I haven't seen another human face in four days!"

_What's the big deal?_ the reflection said.

"I just can't handle this!" Elsa said, sitting up and looking into the mirror. "I need some form of human contact. Anna hasn't even knocked at the door for a few days."

_So? Isn't it a good thing that she's not bugging you?_

"Well, partially, yes. But now she's left me to crave the sound of a human voice!"

Elsa slid off the foot of her bed and onto the floor. She leaned her head back onto the frame as more frost began to cover the floor, in addition to the layer of frost that already coated her room, and snow fell lightly around her.

_Elsa, calm down. You don't need to have people bugging you._

"I need _something_ to help me keep my oh-so-fragile grip on sanity!" she said, standing.

_Elsa, I think you lost your oh-so-fragile grip on sanity a long time ago. You're talking to a mirror!_

Elsa backed away from the mirror as she realized this, and she fell back down onto the bed again. She screamed her frustration into her pillow, and sighed once she couldn't scream anymore.

"That's it," she said, sitting up. "I have to get out of here."

Looking in the mirror, she saw her reflection raising an eyebrow at her.

_Oh gee, that's great,_ it said sarcastically. _How are you gonna do that without getting caught, genius?_

"I'll go out tonight," Elsa concluded. "Once I know everyone is asleep."

_Oh yeah? How about the guards? And where are you gonna go anyway?_

"I'll take a walk in the gardens! There are never any guards out there, and I could use the fresh air."

_But what if someone is out there and they see you?_

"Well, I'll wear my black cloak and keep the hood up, and if anyone is able to spot black on black, I'll just have to get out of there as fast as I can! And if they do catch me, what is Papa honestly gonna do to me? As long as nothing happens with my powers, I'll be fine."

The reflection shook her head. _If you wanna risk it, you better be darn careful out there. You know what you have to do._

Elsa nodded to herself. "Conceal," she said. "Don't feel."

.:.^*^.:.

That night Elsa lay in her bed, impatiently waiting for a time that she could be sure that everyone, including her father, who usually worked late, was asleep.

She heard the clock tower outside chime. _Bong. Bong._

_Two o'clock. That should be good enough,_ she thought. She knew her father never worked past one, and an hour would be more than enough time to get to sleep, and that's assuming he even worked that late on this particular night.

Slowly and silently, Elsa got out of bed. She pulled out her black cloak from her closet and fastened it tightly around herself, pulling up the hood. From a drawer she pulled a pair of long gloves that she stared at for a moment before hastily pulling them over her hands.

She walked to the door, and stopped before it as she took a deep breath.

_Don't feel,_ she thought. She reached out and grabbed the knob, turning it ever so slowly.

Silently, she pulled the door open and stepped into the hallway. She quietly closed the door behind her.

She tiptoed through the hall and down the stairs. Coming to the doors that led outside to the gardens, she calmed her nerves and opened the door.

She stepped outside, silently closing the door behind her. She took a deep breath in, taking in the fresh air. The warm summer breeze felt good against her cold skin, and she savored the scent of all of the flowers.

Elsa walked down the path, feeling all of her inhibitions disappear. In her head, she named every flower and plant that she could see, until she found a nice secluded spot among the trees where she lay down on the grass.

She stared up at the stars, naming each constellation. She had been able to see the stars from her window, but she had never been able to see them like this. She sighed in awe at the beauty of the night sky as she lay there staring at it. She felt like she could lie there forever...

Then, suddenly, she heard the clock tower.

_Bong. Bong. Bong._

Three o'clock.

Elsa knew she had to get back. Some of the staff would start getting up at four, and as much as she wished she could lie here longer, she knew she would lose track of time.

Reluctantly, Elsa got up, brushed the grass off herself and headed back toward the castle. At the doors, Elsa took one last deep breath, wanting to savor the fresh air forever.

She glanced behind her to make sure nobody saw her and slowly opened the door. Inside, she turned around and shut the door silently. She took a few steps back from it, wishing she could go back out one more time...

Suddenly, something grabbed onto her hood and pulled it down. Elsa gasped as she turned around and found herself staring up at a boy, her age, with brown eyes and brown hair.

It was Prince Johan.

* * *

**Okay, so I know that this is _really _bad timing, but I probably won't be able to update on Saturday. I will be going on a brief vacation this weekend, and I don't know if the hotel we are staying at has Wi-Fi. And even if they do I'm not sure if I can update on our laptop (since I write each individual chapter on my iPod, I go through quite a process to post them). If Somehow I am able to update, I will, but I probably will not be able to. But I promise I'll update as soon as I get home on Sunday! Okay?**

_**Read on, write on, dream on. -bandgeek63**_


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Welcome back! I'd like to once again apologize for not being able to update yesterday, as I might have been in Hershey Park... yes, yell at me please! But I'm back now, and I have brought you a new chapter. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Frozen, I would be a billionaire, and since I am not a billionaire, we can logically conclude that I do not own Frozen.**

* * *

Johan stood there agape as he stared down at the girl, who stared back at him with wide eyes. His mind couldn't process what was going on. When he had gotten up to get a drink, he had begun to wander, not feeling like going back to bed, but he did not expect to run into anyone, especially a girl, his age, with blonde hair and blue eyes.

Both of them stood there, frozen in their places. Johan tried to focus his eyes to see the girl more clearly in the darkness. She was _beautiful_. More beautiful than any other girl he had ever met.

She did look like the portrait he had seen in the portrait hall, but he found himself wondering if she was really there. Slowly, and carefully, he lifted his arm and touched the back of his hand to the bare skin of her cheek. Her skin was cold as ice, and she winced at his touch. He pulled his hand away, still unable to believe who he knew was standing before him.

"Princess Elsa?" he whispered.

At the sound of her name, the princess suddenly pushed past him, running toward the stairs.

"No, wait!" he called after her.

He quickly took off after her up the stairs, and turning into the familiar corridor at the top, he was just able to see the princess disappear into her room.

He slowed to a walk and trotted down the corridor toward the door, waiting to hear the lock click.

It didn't.

Suddenly, it all came to Johan. The door wasn't locked; it never had been. This was his chance to give this girl a piece of his mind, to make sure that she feels the pain that she has placed upon her sister. He reached out for the doorknob, his hand slowly inching its way toward opening the door...

Then, suddenly, the image of the princess's terrified face flashed across his mind.

He stopped his hand dead, and let his arm drop to his side. Backing away from the door, he turned and walked down the corridor. He made his way through the castle and back to his own room, where he threw himself down on the bed on top of the covers. Lying on his back, he held his forehead in his hand, trying to wrap his mind around what had just happened.

In his mind's eye, he saw the princess's moonlit features. She was even more beautiful than he had imagined. All of his previous conceptions of her had suddenly vanished, and he wondered how this was possible. Perhaps she was some sort of witch trying to use her beauty to make him feel bad for her?

_No,_ he thought to himself, _that's impossible. There's no such thing as magic._

His thoughts drifted to wondering why she was out of her room in the first place. When he had seen a hooded figure looking over their shoulder as they walked into the castle, his first thought was that somebody was breaking into the castle! He would have never pulled her hood down if he had known who it was.

He remembered seeing her jump as soon as she realized he was behind her, and she obviously knew she wasn't supposed to be there. He remembered the frightened look on her face, and for a moment he wondered if she had been faking it. But he could tell she wasn't. He could see it in her eyes.

It began to occur to Johan that her isolation from the world may not have been completely by her own free will. Perhaps her parents had something to do with it?

_Yes,_ he thought, _there's no way they would just go along with this if it was something they didn't want!_

He was finally beginning to see Elsa in a different light. The reason she locked herself away in her room was not because she had a hatred for the world. It was because she was afraid. Johan wasn't sure what she was afraid of, but now, he supposed that was probably something personal, and therefore none of his business.

_Should I tell anyone that I saw her?_ he thought.

_No,_ he told himself. _That's probably what she's most afraid of right now, and for scaring her, the least I can do is keep it a secret._

He immediately thought of Elsa, alone in her room, not being able to stop thinking of her fear that someone else would find out she left her room. He had to make sure she knew she had nothing to worry about.

Getting up, Johan walked over to the desk. He pulled out a pen, an envelope, and a piece of paper and began to write.

.:.^*^.:.

"Argh! I can't believe how STUPID I am!"

Back in her room, Elsa paced in front of the mirror.

"I mean, what was I _thinking?"_ she yelled. "That I wouldn't get caught by someone?"

Her reflection shook its head.

_I warned you!_ it said.

Elsa stopped in front of the mirror and angrily pointed a finger at it.

"_You_ are a _figment of my imagination!_" she said, trying to will the voice away. She could still hear it though.

_But that just shows that_ you _should have known better._

Elsa turned away from the mirror and ran her fingers through her hair. She tried not to panic as the winds circled around her.

_You're going to get caught!_

Elsa closed her eyes tightly and bit her lip to stifle a scream. She threw herself face-first onto the bed and cried into her arms.

When she could cry no more, she opened her eyes without looking up. How long had she been lying like that? Minutes? Hours? Elsa didn't know.

Suddenly Elsa thought she heard footsteps outside the door. She held her breath as they came to a halt. She heard three soft knocks, and she sat up and looked at the door as she waited for them to say something. But she heard no one's voice as they slipped something under the door and walked away.

Elsa stood up and walked over to see what they had slid under the door for her, and she bent down slowly as she picked it up. It was a letter, and on the envelope were the words _Princess Elsa _in fine print.

She didn't take her eyes off of it as she walked over and sat at her desk. She tore open the envelope and began reading the note:

_Princess Elsa,_

_I would like to apologize for starling you earlier. It was not my intention, and I hope that you would forgive me. I understand that you probably do not wish me to tell anyone of this, and therefore, I won't. It can stay our secret._

Elsa sighed in relief as she read this. She read on, wondering what else he had to say:

_I wish you would come out of your room more. I know that it's none of my business and that there's probably something that I don't understand, but I just want you to know that I think you're beautiful and I wish I could get to see you again. But I understand that is probably not possible, so I just want you to know that this is how I feel._

_Sincerely,_

_Prince Johan of Landvik_

Elsa leaned back in her chair, in both relief and utter bewilderment. She couldn't even comprehend all of this. No one had ever said anything like that to her before. She knew she would probably never get to see him face to face again, but she only wished she could. His words made her feel good about herself, something she had not felt in a long time.

Elsa thought over his words again. _He thought she was beautiful?_ How could that be? She never really thought of herself as such. She had only ever thought of herself as a cursed monster.

She made some snowflakes dance around in her hand and smiled at them. Maybe she couldn't say she _always_ thought of herself like that. She thought back to those childhood days, when everything was so much simpler, and her powers were not thought of as a burden. She had been happy then.

Elsa looked over the note again, amused by how naive some of his statements were. What amused her even more was that he _knew _he didn't understand and had fully accepted it. That was one thing Anna would never be able to say.

Elsa felt her eyes grow heavy as the sun began to rise outside the window. Normally, the sunrise would wake her up, and she'd get up to watch it. But now, she wanted nothing more than to crawl into bed and sleep the day away. She could do that now with this reassurance that no one would know of her nighttime stroll.

She folded the letter and put it back in the envelope. Looking for a place to hide it, she decided it would be safe under her pillow. After taking care of that, she made herself comfortable under the covers and closed her eyes as a deep and dreamless sleep finally found her.

* * *

**Happy Easter!**

_**Read on, write on, dream on. -bandgeek63**_


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Hello people! I am so enjoying my long Easter break! Out of the seven snow days that we've had, only one came off of Easter. They added five days at the end of the year, and the sixth day they just dropped because we had an extra day on the calendar. It wasn't until snow day number seven that they took a day off of spring break, so I don't have to go back to school till Friday! Haha! But to all of you people who lost nearly your entire spring break to snow, don't feel bad for yourselves! You can all laugh at me when I'm in school till June 25th, okay?**

**Disclaimer: Please do not try this at home!... Wait, that's not the right disclaimer... Oh yeah! I do not own Frozen! That's what I meant to say!**

* * *

Elsa awoke when she felt a weight on the side of her bed and a hand on her forehead. She tried to force her eyes open, squinting at the sunlight that poured into the room. She could just make out the shadow of a figure leaning over her.

"Mama?" she said.

Queen Sarah smiled. "Hey, sweetheart."

"What are you doing here?"

"I was walking by and I saw you didn't come out to get your breakfast tray that Kai left for you," she said.

Elsa lifted her head and saw the tray sitting on the table next to her bed where her mother had placed it.

"Oh," she said. "Sorry, I overslept."

"Overslept?" the queen said. "Sweetheart it's almost noon."

"Is it?" Elsa said, trying to focus her eyes enough to see the clock in the corner. "Oh... sorry."

"No, don't be sorry, honey," the queen said. "It's just not like you to sleep this long. You're usually up around the crack of dawn. Are you sick, honey?"

She placed the back of her hand on Elsa's cheek, reminding the princess of the events of the night before.

"No," Elsa said, sitting up. She was careful not to push the note out from under her pillow. "I just didn't sleep well last night."

Her mother smiled at her, not detecting the lie.

"Okay," she said. "How are you doing in here by yourself?"

Elsa shrugged and looked away to avoid the queen's gaze. She opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out. The queen stroked her arm gently, and Elsa shook her head.

"I don't know," the princess said. "I just feel so... alone."

"Oh, sweetheart," the queen said, pulling her daughter into an embrace. Elsa felt tears rolling down her cheeks as she sobbed into her mother's chest. She felt like a four year old, but she couldn't keep herself from letting out her grief.

"It's okay," the queen tried to comfort her. "I'm sorry you have to deal with all this. You're a good girl, Elsa; don't ever let yourself think otherwise."

Elsa bit her lip to keep herself from saying anything about her adventure the night before. She took a deep breath, trying to compose herself.

"No," she said, pulling away from her mother, "don't be sorry. It's not your fault."

The queen brushed her hand through Elsa's hair, and Elsa suddenly realized how much she didn't want her mother to leave her there.

"Tell you what," the queen said. "If you can promise me that you can be the good girl you always have to be and stay in here until they leave, then maybe I'll come in to give you a little company once in a while. Okay?"

Elsa smiled and nodded. She suddenly felt more relaxed knowing that she wouldn't be completely alone anymore.

The queen smiled at her daughter and kissed her forehead. "Is there anything else I can do for you, sweetheart?"

Elsa shrugged. "Nah, I'm good."

"Okay," the queen said, getting up. She walked over to the door and smiled at Elsa before shutting it behind her.

_That door,_ Elsa thought. _It ruined my life._

Sighing, she dropped the subject from her mind and pulled the note from Johan out from under her pillow. She read over his words again: _I just want you to know that this is how I feel._

Elsa sighed as she thought of what the prince was probably doing right now. Was he thinking about her? She couldn't be sure, but she wanted him to know how she felt after reading his note.

_I should give him something,_ she thought. _But what?_

She thought of what she could make for him that wouldn't make it seem like she hadn't really tried. She looked down at her hand and formed some ice in her palm.

She shook her head to herself. _I must be out of my mind..._

.:.^*^.:.

Johan paced his room as he tried to get his mind off the princess. But he just couldn't. He had been thinking about her all day, and now it was already past midnight. He was so tired, but he was just too restless to even try to sleep.

She was just so _beautiful_, and he had so many questions he wanted to ask her. Why would such a beautiful girl want to hide her face from the world? He just needed to know the answers!

The prince sighed, as he secretly knew he would never discover these answers. He only hoped that she had read his note...

Johan stopped in his tracks as he thought he heard something. He held his breath, and then heard three soft knocks on his door, followed by the sound of scampering footsteps.

Johan made his way to the door, and opened it to peek out. There, on the floor, lay a small box. On top of it was a small strip of paper, rolled up and tied with a small ribbon.

Carefully, Johan picked up the box and retreated back into the room. He put the piece of paper aside and opened the box.

Inside was a snow globe, with a larger, crystal-like snowflake standing in the middle. Johan placed his fingers on the glass and picked it up. It was so cold it might as well have been made of _ice_. He shook it up and the snow fell gently around the snowflake statue.

The prince found himself examining every inch of the object. It was _beautiful_, just like someone else he knew...

Johan turned his attention to the note. Carefully, he untied the ribbon and unrolled the small piece of paper. On it, two words had been written. Just two words:

_Thank you._

There was no name. There didn't need to be a name. Johan knew who it was from, and he would waste no time in throwing her own two words right back at her.

After putting the snow globe somewhere no one would find it, he quietly made his way out of the room.

* * *

_**Read on, write on, dream on. -bandgeek63**_


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Short chapter today, but still important. And utterly sweet, if I do say so myself!**

**Disclaimer: I Do not own Frozen. The end.**

* * *

Johan held his breath as he approached the white door. That familiar chill hung in the air. He looked around to make sure that no one was watching, but there was not another soul to be seen.

He held his hand out to knock on the door, but it froze in place as he started to reconsider. What was he going to do? Talk through the door and hope that she was listening? He could leave another note, but no, he wanted to say whatever he was going to say in person.

_I'll just make it up as I go along..._

Taking a deep breath, he placed three knocks on the door before speaking just loud enough to be heard through the door.

"Princess Elsa?"

.:.^*^.:.

On the other side of the door, Elsa sat up in bed when she heard the knock. She hadn't been sleeping anyway. She found herself astonished at hearing the prince's voice.

"Princess Elsa?"

Naturally, Elsa didn't respond. She stared at the door, waiting for him to either say something else or go away.

"I don't know if you're actually listening to me right now," Johan said, "but if you are, I'd like to say thank you for the snow globe. It's beautiful. And yes, I know it was from you. It couldn't have been from anyone else."

Elsa rolled her eyes. She knew he'd know. She just didn't sign her name in case someone else found it. She heard him shiver as he continued.

"You know," the prince continued, "I find it funny how it's always so cold back here."

She heard him sit down with his back to the door. Slowly, she inched her way toward it to be closer to him.

"Do you ever get cold back here?" he said. "If only you would come out. Then I could keep you warm. I'd keep you close and make sure the cold would never bother you."

Elsa sat down against the door, thinking again of how naive he was. She wasn't sure if he could hear or feel her behind him, but she could feel his warmth radiating through the door.

"Well," Johan continued, "unless you like the cold of course. Then, in the winter, we could all play in the snow, all day long. Just you, me, and Anna."

Elsa took in a sharp breath at her sister's name. Johan sighed.

"She loves you, you know," he said. "She's always loved you, even though she gets nothing in return. I don't mean anything against you. I'm sure you have a good reason for staying in your room that is none of my business. But it's just funny how younger siblings kind of look up to you no matter what. Reminds me of my sister, Julie. She annoys the heck out of me, but no matter what I do she never leaves me alone, and deep down I know that I love her and if anything happened to her... I'd be devastated."

Elsa closed her eyes as she leaned her head against the door and listened to the soothing sound of Johan's voice. But then he stopped, and it sounded like he had stiffened.

"I'm sorry, princess," he said. "I'm rambling. I'll just... leave you be."

Elsa opened her eyes in sadness as she heard him start to get up.

"Don't go..." she said under her breath.

She didn't really mean for him to hear it, but it seemed as though he had, for he let out a small gasp and sat back down. Elsa slid her fingers along the crack under the door until she felt his fingers doing the exact same thing. She heard him gasp again as she did the same. For a moment, she let their fingers touch, as she yearned for him to stay with her. Snapping back to her senses, she pulled her hand away, but she closed her eyes and leaned her head on the door as the two of them wished that this barrier between them would disappear.

After sitting there for what seemed like hours, Johan finally sighed and spoke again.

"Goodnight, Elsa."

Elsa didn't move as he stood up and walked away. Once he was gone, she opened her eyes and stood. Walking back to her bed, she wondered if he would ever come back to talk to her again. As she lay down, she had this feeling deep down that she knew he would. She had never felt like this about anyone before. It was a strange feeling that she wondered if he felt too. She realized that she cared about him, and that he cared about her, too. No one had ever seemed to sympathize with her like this before, and as she fell asleep, she wished she could still feel the warmth of his presence.

* * *

**Uh-oh! Gotta go! My younger cousin is probably done with school by now and I have to text her and wish her a happy birthday! (She's turning twelve! Ohmigod, my baby!) Of course, the thing I love most about her birthday is that it means my birthday is tomorrow, April 25th! Woo-hoo!**

_**Read on, write on, dream on. -bandgeek63**_


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Okay, I've got to be quick today, because my parents keep bugging me to help get the house ready for this party! (Speaking of, thanks to everyone who wished me and my cousin a happy birthday!)**

**The only thing I have to say about this chapter is that, for anyone who was wondering, I didn't forget about Anna! ;-)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Frozen, even though I can recite the entire movie word for word!**

* * *

"... 28, 29, 30! Ready or not, here I come!"

Anna opened her eyes and scanned the ballroom for any sign of Johan. She had won every round so far, and she wasn't going to stop here!

From his hiding spot behind a curtain, Johan bit his lip to keep from laughing. In truth, he had somewhat been letting Anna win, to even playing field, so to speak, but it started to occur to him that maybe he didn't really need to.

With his feet sticking out from under the curtain, he smirked to himself as he heard Anna quietly approaching. When the footsteps went quiet, she yanked the curtain aside in victory.

"Aha!" she cried. "Gotcha!"

Johan sighed dramatically, looking at the smiling girl.

"Oh, Anna," he said, looking at his shoes, "you found me."

He faked a look of disappointment until he saw Anna's smile fade away in concern. Then, he looked up at her with a smirk on his face.

"But let's see if you can catch me!"

With that he took off across the ballroom, with Anna in hot pursuit. The chase ended up going off into the hallway, and after turning a corner, he skidded to a stop as he almost ran into a flustered maid.

"Oh, excuse me," he apologized, "I'm sorry, I didn't-"

He was cut off as Anna crashed into him when she turned the corner. She tripped past him as she tried to stop herself, and she soon ended up on the floor between Johan and the maid.

"Ow!" she cried.

"Anna, are you okay?" Johan asked as he helped her off the ground. She winced as she stood, and her hand flew to the back of her leg and gripped it tightly.

"Well," she said, putting on a painfully sarcastic smile, "it might be a little sore for a little bit, but overall, I think I'll live."

She smirked at him as she tried to hold in the cries of pain that threatened to escape.

"Here," Johan said, putting her arm around his shoulder. With her hopping on her good leg, he helped her down to the infirmary, where they put some ice on her leg.

"Johan, you don't have to say here with me," Anna said. "I'm probably gonna stay in here a while, cause I don't feel like trying to walk right now."

Johan hesitated, but he nodded and turned toward the door.

"And, Johan?" Anna said.

"Yes?"

"Thanks for helping me get down here."

Johan smirked at her. "Aw, forget about it, kid. I couldn't have left you there if I'd tried."

She smirked back at him, noting his sarcasm. "Alright. Well I'll see you later, Mr. Hero."

"See you, Little Miss Injured!"

He heard Anna chuckle as he left the room. He walked through the halls and back to his room, where he flopped down on the bed. He had been so worried for a minute that Anna had been seriously hurt. The main thing that bothered him now was that it was really his fault that she had gotten hurt. He should have remembered how dangerous it could be to run inside a castle; he had learned that the hard way when he was only six.

Sighing, the prince shook the thought from his mind and tried to find something else to focus on. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Elsa's snow globe on his nightstand, and he picked it up to examine it again.

It had been three days since he had gone to talk to Elsa, and something was starting to bother him. Why had she given him the snow globe? Was it just a token of good will? Or was there another meaning to it? He had thoroughly examined it many times, half expecting to find some sort of hidden message on it. But unsurprisingly, he had found nothing.

He had considered going back to see Elsa again and ask her about it, but he could already tell that no matter what he did, she would probably never speak a word to him, let alone give him a straight answer. Still, he felt a need to see her again. There was just something about her that captivated him. She just seemed so scared of everything. When he touched her hand through the door, she had been shaking. At first he had dismissed it as shivering from the cold, but now he saw that it was more than that.

Perhaps Anna getting hurt would be the perfect excuse for him to go see her. She should just know about it, and he didn't know if anyone would tell her. But he also worried that if he did this, she would blame him for letting her get hurt. He didn't want Elsa to be mad at him, but it scared him that if she was mad at him, he would probably never know for sure if she actually was mad!

The prince took a deep breath and looked around for something to distract him from his thoughts. On the dresser, he spotted a small black case just begging to be opened. He got up and pulled the case onto the bed with him. He opened it up, revealing his precious shining flute. Normally, he would practice his flute every day, but because of everything that had been going on, the flute had been neglected for that last week since he had arrived in Arendelle.

Without needing to think about it, he put the flute together and played a few notes to warm himself up. He began to play from memory one of his favorite flute solos, a piece that his teacher had said represented the beauty of winter and snow. He had always had a passion for music, and normally playing his flute could get his mind off of anything. But as he played the soft tune, for some reason, it kept making him think of Elsa. He didn't understand why, but it was just not helping to practice.

He sighed as he put the instrument away. He couldn't stop thinking about the princess, and he made up his mind that he would go talk to her. Tonight.

.:.^*^.:.

Elsa lay on her back with her legs crossed and her knees protruding into the air. She giggled as she made snowflakes dance around between her fingers. Ever since she had made the snow globe, she had been a little more comfortable playing with her powers, albeit she was still a bit wary.

She couldn't stop thinking about the prince. She had never seen herself becoming a lovesick teenager, but that's exactly what she was, and she didn't mind having something good to think about. Finally someone seemed to understand how she feels about being isolated, and she kept dreaming of him being her Prince Charming who would save her from her tower.

As she giggled at her snowflakes, she heard that nagging voice in the back of her head.

_Stop it! You're going to lose control!_

Elsa turned and saw that image of herself in the mirror giving her a scolding look. She glared back at it, but she stopped the snowflakes anyway.

"I don't _feel_ like I'm going to lose control!" she said to herself, standing up.

The reflection shook its head. _You seem to be all about taking risks lately! Like when you touched the prince's hand _without gloves!?

Elsa unconsciously held her hand to her chest. She hadn't really thought about gloves at the time because she hadn't even intended for their hands to meet. But secretly, she was glad that she hadn't been wearing them.

She sighed as she sat back down on the bed. She wanted him to come back. She wanted him to be with her. If only it could stay like that forever...

_Stop thinking about him!_ the voice of the reflection said. _You'll only hurt yourself!_

Elsa felt a sadness fall down upon her. She knew it wouldn't last forever, and she didn't want it to all be in her head.

"Well," she said, "maybe one day I'll find him again. Or he'd find me! Oh, can't you just picture us laying under the stars together, not caring about anything except each other?"

_You know it can never happen!_ the reflection said.

"Well, you could at least let me dream!"

_Don't dream too far! You can't lose sight of who you are!_

Elsa scoffed at her own thoughts as she lay back down and returned to playing with her snowflakes. One thing she was sure of was that there was no mistaking the tone in his voice when he had said good night to her the other night. He would be knocking at her door again. It was only a matter of time...

.:.^*^.:.

Johan held his breath as he knocked on the cold door.

"Elsa?" he said. "It's me, Prince Johan."

There was no response. He didn't expect there to be.

"Um... I'm sorry to bother you... but I just wanted to tell you something."

On the other side of the door, Elsa walked closer as she heard his voice. She stood behind the door, wondering what he was going to say.

"Well," he continued, "I don't know if anyone told you... but Anna got hurt today when we were running around the castle."

Elsa gasped quietly to herself, and he seemed to realize that she would be worried.

"Don't worry!" he said. "She's okay; she just fell on her leg and it's a little sore, that's all. I just thought you should know."

Elsa sighed in relief. She wondered why he felt that she needed to know, though. She heard him sit against the door, and she did the same.

"It was all my fault; I should have known better than to take off running in the castle and challenging her to catch me. I helped her down to the infirmary, and they just put some ice on it and said it would be fine. I just hope you can forgive me. I completely regret letting her get hurt... It was an accident."

The princess listened intently as he got a bit choked up. His last sentence really made her feel for him, because it was the first thing she had said to her parents after hurting Anna all those years ago. He didn't realize that she understood how it felt to have something be your fault. And in this case, it truly sounded like an accident, and at least Anna wasn't hurt too bad.

Elsa heard Johan trying to control his breathing, as if to keep himself from sobbing. Ignoring the fact that she had no gloves on, she slid her fingers under the door until she found his hand, which she held tightly.

When Johan felt her hand touch his, he expected it to pull away again. But this time, it didn't, and he knew he had been forgiven. He sighed in relief, and they sat in silence for several minutes before he finally spoke again.

"You know," he said, "I've been thinking about that snow globe lately."

Elsa bit her lip as he paused. _Okay... and?_

"Well, I was wondering, why'd you give it to me?" he asked. "I mean, it's beautiful, and I love it, don't get me wrong. But was it really just a way to thank me for not telling anyone I saw you, or is there some meaning to it that I just don't get?"

Elsa pulled her hand away as she strained to not say anything. There was a meaning to it, one she couldn't get around, but her intent was not for him to discover that.

He felt her hand pull away, and he quickly realized that he had asked something that was none of his business.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't mean to upset you, princess."

She relaxed as she listened to not the words he was saying, but the genuine tone of respect in his voice. She closed her eyes as she leaned her head on the door.

"But, I hope you know I mean it when I say that it really is beautiful," he said. "Just like I mean it when I say it to you."

Elsa smiled at this comment. _So this is love..._

For what seemed like hours, they sat in silence, each content with knowing that the other was only a door away.

* * *

**Can you people say "lovesick teenagers"?**

_**Read on, write on, dream on. -bandgeek63**_


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: This chapter is primarily ****an anecdote from Johan's childhood that he tells Elsa one night. This particular backstory is really just filler for this story, as it has no real significance ****to the central plot. It will, however, have importance to the plot of the sequel. (Yes, there is going to be a sequel! Trust me, I'm _way_ ahead of you!) But for now, it's just fluff, so enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Yeah, I don't own Frozen, but I can still wish I could spend a day in this fictional universe!**

* * *

For the next couple nights, they would do this. Johan would come and sit outside the door, they would hold hands, and they would talk... okay _Johan_ did all the talking, but Elsa would sit and listen. They would simply enjoy each other's company.

Johan's days during this time were filled with activity. He helped his father a lot with business. Even though Johan knew what he was doing when it came to the kingdom, it wasn't his favorite pastime. He practiced his flute a lot more, in the hopes that at some point he could play a song for Elsa. Although, he knew that would not be possible because it would wake everyone up and give away their secret meetings.

He also tried to spend some time with Anna. It turned out that she had in fact sprained her ankle, and she was told by the doctor to not put weight on it for a few days. She would use crutches to walk, but she tried to stay off her feet for the most part. All of this made Johan feel guilty, but both Anna and her parents assured him that it was not his fault.

Meanwhile, Elsa tried to do something with her time as well. She spent time reading, and despite having read all of the books multiple times, she was beginning to see entirely new aspects of them that she couldn't see before. Otherwise, she mostly spent her time waiting for the moment that Johan would knock on her door. She hadn't even been talking to herself as much lately, which she took as a good sign.

The queen came to see her once or twice, and they would talk a bit, but Elsa had to force herself to hold her tongue about the prince. She couldn't help but notice that her mother didn't really say anything about Anna. When Elsa asked about her, the queen said that Anna had hurt her foot, but she didn't say much more. Elsa assumed that her mother didn't want her getting too upset over it because she was afraid the princess would lose control of her emotions.

When Johan would knock on Elsa's door, sometime between midnight and two o'clock in the morning, she would be there waiting for him. He would keep her updated on Anna's condition, and sometimes he would tell her stories from his life back in Landvik. She found it particularly interesting to hear about all of these little adventures that he'd had with his friends. At first, he thought he had been boring her, but she held on to his hand to tell him that she didn't mind.

One night, Johan told Elsa a story that she would not soon forget.

"You know," he mentioned after one of the common periods of silence that fell upon them, "have you ever felt like you've saved someone's life?"

_No,_ Elsa thought, _but I've felt like I've done the opposite..._

"Well," the prince continued, "I did. Once."

Elsa sat up straight against the door, and she squeezed his hand telling him to go on.

"I was eight, and it was midwinter. My sister Julie and I were playing in the snow out in the park when someone told us that a blizzard was coming and that we needed to get back to the castle. So, we were walking through the city to get home when out of the corner of my eye, I saw someone staring at us from the alleyway. I looked and saw it was a boy, about my age. He was extremely pale, he had no coat, and he looked like he hadn't eaten a decent meal in weeks. He also had a big scar across the side of his face. Our eyes met for a moment, and he seemed to be filled with fear.

"Then my sister, who was four at the time, noticed me staring at him. She called out to him, and he quickly tried to hide behind a stack of firewood that sat in the alley.

"'Julie, stay away from him,' I said cautiously. 'He could be dangerous.'

"'He's just a kid, and he looks like he needs help.' she said.

"I tried to say something else to keep her from going up to the boy, but the words disappeared as soon as I opened my mouth. Before I had a chance to protest again, Julie had walked over to where the boy hid in fear.

"'Don't be afraid,' she said, extending a hand. 'I'm not going to hurt you.'

"He kind of looked at her with uncertainty, but eventually he took her hand. She helped him stand, and he wobbled a bit upon getting to his feet.

"'I'm Julie,' she said. 'And this is my brother, Johan.' I nodded to him, and he just stared at me until Julie continued. 'What's your name?'

"He didn't answer. He seemed too afraid to say anything.

"As I felt the wind pick up and the air get colder, I tapped Julie on the shoulder. 'We have to get back,' I said. I had intended on that being the last time I'd see the boy, but Julie seemed to have other plans. She asked if he had a place to go, and after a bit of hesitation, the boy shook his head. She insisted that he come back to the castle with us. Of course, I tried to stop her by getting her to think about the consequences, but she just started to lead him forward.

"But they didn't get very far. After a few wobbly steps, the boy collapsed face first into the snow. Quickly, ignoring my earlier sense of uneasiness, I rushed forward to help him. I sent Julie ahead to tell the castle that we had found a boy who needed to see a doctor, and I lifted him up and threw his arm around my shoulder. I dragged him, barely conscious, back to the castle, where servants were already waiting to help.

"They gave him a room in the castle, and our parents agreed to let him stay until we found out where he came from. The doctor said that the boy had suffered from a lack of food and exposure to the cold. He also had many scars across his body that the doctor said were whip marks. We inferred from this that he had been abused and abandoned by whoever had been his guardian.

"We tried to coax the information out of him, but we could never get him to say a word. It wasn't until Julie stepped in again did he finally speak. All she wanted to know was his name. Just his name. And he told her: 'My name is Noah.'

"It was all thanks to that sweet little girl that we finally got him to warm up to the rest of us. We eventually got the information from him that he was beaten by his father and ran away. Some guards went to find his father to arrest him for abusing his son, but when they got to his house, no one was there, and it was clear that he was long gone.

"Noah is still with us at the castle now. It's not like he has anywhere else to go. He's my best friend, and he and Julie are very close too. It just amazes me how lucky it was that we showed up that day, because I can't imagine what would have happened if we didn't. If he didn't freeze to death, he surely would have starved..."

Elsa felt a tear roll down her check as Johan finished his story. She couldn't imagine what it must feel like to have snatched someone back from the hands of death. She held onto his hand, and he weaved his fingers into hers.

"It's funny," he said. "All it really took was the innocence of a young child to save him. If Julie hadn't been there, I'd have probably left Noah, afraid of him myself."

Elsa smiled. It was apparent to her that Julie shared many similarities to Anna, and innocence was no exception.

Finally, after a long day and a long night, Johan sighed and pulled his hand away.

"Well..." he said as he stood, "Goodnight, Elsa."

* * *

_**Read on, write on, dream on. -bandgeek63**_


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: You know, the beginning of this chapter always reminds me why I consider myself a "band geek". In every story I make, I always make one of my OCs play an instrument! Those of you who read "Waiting For an Angel" should know what I mean! Of course, I wanted to make Johan play French horn, but I figured that for him to bring that with him to Arendelle would be completely impractical, so I settled for something smaller...**

**You know what, why am I telling you guys this? No one cares, and I don't take that personally! So just forget my pointless rambling and read the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Frozen. I just own this gratuitous story that my imagination somehow conjured!**

* * *

Johan sat in his chair, trying out this new melody on his flute to see if he liked it. In front of him, on the music stand, were sheets of blank staff paper with a few lines of written-in notes. After playing through what he had written, Johan shook his head and picked up his pencil, changing a few notes.

He would do this back at home sometimes. He would sit down with his flute and start writing short little solos for himself to play. He would make them represent certain things in his life. Some were about people, such as the ones he titled _Johan and Julie_, _Noah_, and _My Father the King_. Others were inspired by his surroundings, like _Land and Bay_, _A Summer Breeze_, and _A Walk on the Docks_.

This one was titled for a place, but inspired by the people there. He called it _Arendelle_.

The prince had come to love this place. It really was beautiful, and you could never find a kinder city. It pained him to think that he only had three days left there. But he tried not to think about that as he continued writing.

A soft knock at the door drew his attention. He opened the door to see Anna, still on crutches, looking up at him with a smile.

"Hi," she said.

"Hey, Anna," the prince replied.

"Do you want to play outside with me?" she asked.

"Um, I'm a little bit busy right now," he said distractedly as he returned to his music.

"Oh," Anna said disappointedly. After a short pause, she hopped her way over to where he was sitting. "What are you busy with?"

"I'm writing a piece of music to play on my flute," Johan replied. He looked up at Anna, who stood behind him looking at the music with excitement, even though she had no idea what she was reading. "Do you want to hear it?" he offered.

The princess nodded enthusiastically. Johan played what he had written so far, and since there wasn't much yet, it was over in only a few moments. Nevertheless, Anna seemed impressed, and her eyes lit up with excitement.

"You're really good!" she cried, clapping.

"Thank you," Johan replied. "I've been playing a long time."

"How long?"

He shrugged. "Most of my life, I guess."

"Wow..." The girl seemed to be mesmerized by the music on the stand in front of her.

Suddenly it dawned on Johan how little time he'd spent with Anna the past few days. He'd been so focused on impressing Elsa that he had almost forgotten about her sister.

"Hey," he said to her now, "why don't we go outside?"

"Yay!" Anna jumped excitedly and dropped her crutches as she began to hop on one foot toward the door. Johan picked up the crutches and helped her get them under her arms again before she took off ahead of him down the hallway.

_Outrun by a crippled girl,_ he thought.

Out in the gardens, they played every outdoor game the prince could possibly imagine that Anna could do with a bad leg. When Anna finally got tired, they lay out on the grass and watched the clouds roll by.

"Johan?" Anna said.

"What?"

"I've had a lot of fun while you've been here."

He turned his head and smiled at the giddy young princess. "Me too," he replied.

Anna sighed. "Ugh, what am I gonna do once you leave?" she jokingly complained.

Johan chuckled. "You've still got the paintings!" he joked.

She shook her head. "That's not the same," she replied. "I wish I could be able to spend time with a _real_ friend."

He looked at her with sympathy as her tone became slightly more serious.

"Well, maybe you could get your sister to play with you," he said, although he knew it would never happen.

"Oh, you think I haven't tried?" Anna laughed. "Been trying for years. It's never worked."

Johan sighed and stared back up at the clouds.

"I wish she would come out, though," Anna said. "I just want to see her, or at least just talk to her."

The prince listened to her plea that was directed at the sister who would not be able to hear them. _Welcome to the club, kid._

"Well," Anna said, "at least for now, I still have the paintings!"

Johan faked laughter as she chuckled at her own joke. He just all of a sudden had too much on his mind to laugh for real. He just couldn't watch Anna be that lonely. He just saw so much if his younger sister in her, and he wanted her to be happy.

He'd have to mention this to Elsa...

.:.^*^.:.

Johan stood outside Elsa's door and held his breath as he knocked quietly.

"Elsa?" he said. "It's me."

He sat down and slid his hand under the crack and found her fingers. He held onto her cold hand as he began what he was going to say.

"Elsa?" he began. "I was playing with Anna today... You know, she really misses you."

He paused to see if she showed any reaction to this. She didn't move, which he hoped was a good sign, but he didn't notice the slight drop in temperature.

"You know, I think you should go see her," he continued. "Just once."

He felt her pull her hand away, and he could hear her taking a sharp intake of air. _Don't push her,_ he thought to himself.

"She just wants to see you," he said. "To talk to you... well, what do you think? Can you come see her?"

He paused, listening for a response. He had really hoped that this would get her to say something, but as usual, she remained silent. The prince was beginning to lose his patience.

"You know, you could at least give me a straightforward answer!" he said irritatedly. "I just thought that maybe, especially because she's injured, you would want to see her!"

He listened again for an answer. He heard her let out a sob. He could figure out what that meant.

He shook his head to himself. "I just don't get it," he said. "All that sweet little girl wants is to see you and to talk to you _once_. The least you could do is say hi. But apparently there is some kind of secret that you are hiding in there that you are so desperate to keep that you can't spend just a few minutes with your sister. You want to, but you have to make the decision between keeping your secret or giving your sister a childhood. And personally, I think you are making the foolish choice."

He heard Elsa trying to fight back tears on the other side of the door, but at that moment, all his sympathy for her had disappeared.

"I'm going to bed," he announced to her as he stood. "Goodnight, Elsa."

With this, he stomped off to his room.

.:.^*^.:.

Inside the room, several layers of frost had formed on the door and around it, covering almost that entire wall. Elsa sat right in the middle of it all, by the door, and she cried out all of her tears into her knees.

* * *

**WARNING! WARNING!** **This is the beginning of the end! This starts the build-up to the climax (if you can call anything climactic in this sort of story) which means we only have a few chapters left. But don't worry, because as I said before, there is a sequel to this story in the works! So the story of Johan and Elsa is still far from over! ;-)**

_**Read on, write on, dream on. -bandgeek63**_


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Short chapter today, but it's still kinda sweet, once you get over the depressing part. And believe me when I say that the best is yet to come! (Hint, hint. Clue, clue...)**

**Disclaimer: No, I don't own Frozen! How many times do I have to say it!?**

* * *

Johan didn't knock on Elsa's door the next night, or the night after. He couldn't.

At first he was upset, but when the anger receded, which it didn't take long to do, he became mad with himself for yelling at her. He didn't mean some of the things he said; he had just lost his patience. After losing it on her like that, he just couldn't bring himself to face her again.

He went around the next few days in despair. He would still do his duties with his father and spend time with Anna, but he always came off as being rather distant, since his mind was really somewhere else. He had completely given up hope of finishing his composition, and when he tried to take his mind off things by playing his flute, he just wanted to throw it on the floor in frustration.

Meanwhile, Elsa was in too much agony to do anything with her time. She barely ate, and she had started talking to herself again. All her books had become meaningless jumbles of words, and her emotions were so erratic that she kept her gloves on in fear of freezing the entire castle. They didn't prevent her from completely freezing her room, though.

What got to her the most was that she agreed with him. She agreed with everything he said, but there was just no way to change things. And as much as she wanted to, she knew she couldn't tell him why.

.:.^*^.:.

Johan didn't speak as he silently packed his things while Anna bounced up and down on the foot of the bed. She looked at him as happy as ever, but he barely seemed to notice that she was there. Her smile faded as she noticed his somber expression.

"Are you okay?" she asked. "You've been awfully quiet lately."

He shrugged. "It's nothing important," he said.

"Are you angry with someone?" Anna asked.

The prince shrugged again. "I _guess_ you could say that."

She looked at him with concern. "Are you mad at me?"

He looked up at her. "No, of course not," he said genuinely.

"Are you mad at your father?"

"No."

Anna paused, trying to think of who else he could be mad at. "Are you mad at yourself?"

Johan stopped what he was doing and sighed. "Maybe a little."

"Why?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Why not?"

Johan sighed in defeat as he tried to resume his packing. "I just... said some things I'm not proud of to someone I care about a lot."

The princess watched him intently as he took a seat next to her and propped his elbows up on his knees.

"Now I'm just afraid to face them because I'm afraid they'll be mad at me," he said.

"Johan, you said it was someone you care a lot about, right?" Anna said. Johan nodded. "We'll then I'm sure they care about you too, so they couldn't stay mad at you forever."

Johan put on half a smile at the girl's optimism. He thought about this for a moment, but he just shook it off for now as a servant came in and told them their parents had summoned them for dinner.

.:.^*^.:.

Johan lay in his bed that night without bothering trying to get to sleep. All of his things and his father's things were packed and ready for their departure the next morning. He knew he should try to sleep since this would be the last time he'd be on a comfortable bed until they got back to Landvik, but he just had too much on his mind.

He kept thinking about what Anna had said earlier. He knew she was right; Elsa probably wouldn't stay mad at him forever. But he worried that she wouldn't forgive him so soon. He thought about going back to apologize, but every different way he could think to word his apology just sounded like a stupid excuse in his head.

But he kept thinking of what the consequences would be if he _didn't_ go to say something to her. Chances were that after he left, he would probably never see her again. He didn't want to leave her thinking he was still mad at her, even if she was still mad at him. Even if she didn't take his apology seriously and took it as a lousy excuse, which he felt it kind of was, he just wanted to make sure she knew that he still cared about her.

Finally, he made up his mind. He would have to go say something to her. But since it was his last night in Arendelle, this was his only chance. He'd have to go now. _Right_ now.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: I have to mention that I REALLY LOVE THIS CHAPTER! Even though it's actually shorter than I thought it was. I think Chapter 4 is still my favorite, but this is definitely a close second! So just read! I think you'll love it!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Frozen. I'm just a girl who wishes she could marry Idina Menzel's voice. Don't judge.**

* * *

Elsa sighed as she stared at the ceiling. Ever since their quarrel the other night, she would lay awake on her bed, listening for Johan's soft knock. It never came, and she would lay there until a nightmare-haunted sleep finally found her.

She knew he would be leaving the next day. She knew she would probably never see him again. She just felt that there were so many things she should have said, but she was too afraid to do so. It pained her to think that he would leave here thinking that she was heartless for completely shutting her sister out and not giving her the childhood she deserved. She would never be able to tell him how much she really cares about Anna... or how much she cares about him...

Suddenly, she heard it. _Knock, knock, knock._ That distinctive knock that could be no one's other than Johan's.

Elsa's heart leapt for joy, but her head told her that he was probably still mad at her. But then why was he here?

"Elsa?" Johan said. He trembled as he tried to come up with how to say this. "Umm... I know you probably didn't expect me to come here tonight, but... well, I'm leaving tomorrow... and I just thought there were some things I should say."

Elsa sat on the side of her bed and listened as he struggled to keep himself from sobbing.

"I'm so sorry, Elsa," he said. "I didn't mean anything that I said; I just got frustrated. I don't want you to be mad at me, because I'm not mad at you. And I know we probably will never see each other again, but I just want you to know how much I care about you..."

Elsa felt a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach as she heard him begin to sob. She had that strange sensation that she read about in books, where a prince confesses his love to a beautiful young maiden and the maiden tells him that she loves him too. She had always wondered what these women felt when this happened. She guessed this was it.

The princess looked at her mirror, as if to ask if she should say something, but for the first time in forever, all that stared back at her was her own reflection. The mirror was not meant to reflect how she thought, she realized. It was meant to show someone what they truly looked like, and now, for once, rather than seeing an evil monster looking back at her, instead she saw a beautiful young woman, who was ready to say what she needed to say.

Walking over to the desk, she quickly grabbed a rolled up note that she had hoped to give him and then walked over to the door. She took a deep breath as she reached for the doorknob and silently pulled open the door.

In front of her, Johan stood with his eyes closed as tears rolled down his cheeks. He had not heard her open the door. Elsa tried to look at him clearly in the moonlight that shined through the window. He really was quite a handsome young prince, and Elsa imagined that this fact would only become more true with time.

Stepping forward, she closed her eyes as she leaned up and gently placed a kiss on his lips.

At the feeling of her lips on his, Johan opened his eyes and stared down at her in shock. She looked up at him with her crystal blue eyes, her expression unreadable, as he tried to process what had just happened.

He felt her slip the note into his hand, and he looked at it for a moment before he started to open it.

"Wait," Elsa whispered. He stopped and looked back at her. "Don't read it until after you've left Arendelle."

Johan paused for a moment, unsure, but then he nodded. A small smile formed on Elsa's face.

"You've been a good friend, Johan," she said. "I just want you to be able to leave here knowing that I care about you too, and that will never change."

She tried to hold her composure as she wiped a tear off of his face with her gloved hand. She felt a tear slip down her own cheek, and he lifted his hand to her face and brushed it away with his thumb.

"I will miss you," Elsa said. "More than you know."

As if on instinct, Johan leaned down and kissed her again, feeling as though he were floating on air. After a moment or two, Elsa pulled away and backed into her room. By the time he opened his eyes, she had once again disappeared behind the door.

He stood there for a few moments, his mind still trying to catch up with what just happened. He looked at the note that she had placed in his hand. As tempting as it was to read it now, he intended to keep his promise to Elsa and not read it until he left.

Sighing, he put the note in his pocket and walked back to his room.

Elsa felt content as she lay back down on her bed. Now, if she never saw him again, she will have said what she needed to say.

* * *

_**Read on, write on, dream on. -bandgeek63**_


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Welcome to the final chapter! Well, okay it's not _really _the final chapter when you count the epilogue, which I'm going to post later today. As for the sequel, I'm not quite sure when I will finish it. All I know is that right now it's going really, really beyond slow! Hopefully I will be able to finish it and start to post it before the end of May, but I will make NO promises! I'll try to go as fast as I can!**

**But for now, enjoy the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Frozen. I just got bored and started writing something.**

* * *

Johan stood silently as his father and King Oscar bid each other farewell.

"Thank you again, my friend," King Magnus said, shaking the other man's hand.

"Anytime," Oscar replied. "I wish you safety and victory in your war, and have a safe trip home."

"Thank you, Oscar," Magnus said. "It is always a pleasure to do business with you."

"And with you," Oscar said. He turned to Johan, smiling. "And you, my boy, it's been wonderful meeting you as well. I can tell you'll make a great king someday."

Johan smiled sheepishly. "Thank you, sir," he said.

"Wait!"

Johan heard a voice call from the castle doors and saw Anna running toward them. She was off of her crutches now, but her foot was still wrapped.

She ran up to the prince and threw her arms around him tightly. The two kings chuckled as Johan gasped for air.

"I'll miss you," Anna said.

"I'll miss you, too," Johan replied, trying to pry the girl off of him. King Oscar assisted by pulling his daughter back. "Maybe I'll write to you sometime," he said.

Anna's face lit up. "Really?"

"Sure," he replied. In truth, he knew he would probably forget, but at least it made Anna happy.

"Yay!" Anna exclaimed.

"Ok, Anna, I think you've taken enough of this boy's time. He has to leave," Oscar said to his daughter.

Anna sighed. "Okay."

Johan chuckled as he started to make his way over to his horse. "You rest that foot of yours, Anna, you hear?" he said.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Anna replied, rolling her eyes. "I'll be fine."

The prince smiled as he mounted his steed. "Goodbye, Anna," he called.

"Bye, Johan," Anna yelled as she waved.

The prince looked up at the castle that he had grown to love. He would truly miss Arendelle.

Then, in the window of the library, he saw someone staring back at him. He stared at that face that he would never forget. She smiled at him, and he smiled back, happy that he got to see the princess one last time.

The gates opened in front of the prince and his father. Johan looked back at Anna and her father, who stood in the doorway of the castle, waving.

"Come on, son," Magnus said.

Looking forward, Johan took off behind his father, and they rode the horses across town to the docks where they boarded their ship.

It wasn't long before they had started to sail away. The prince stood on the deck for a long while, staring back at Arendelle until it became nothing more than a dot on the horizon.

He made his way to his cabin, where all of his things had already be brought by servants. He laid down on the cot, agonizing over how uncomfortable it was compared to the bed he had slept in for the last two weeks. But it would do, since he could fall asleep just about anywhere.

He thought about what King Oscar had said about him making a good king one day. He didn't believe that he would make a bad king, but he did not feel like he could handle such a big responsibility.

He lay there for what seemed like hours, not thinking about anything in particular. Just waiting for something to bring him out of his misery...

Then, suddenly, he remembered.

_The note._

Gingerly, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the delicately rolled up piece of paper. Unravelling it, he read it slowly, expecting to find some sort of an explanation that answered all of his questions.

Well that was wishful thinking, because all he got was a riddle:

_When you stare into the crystal ball,_

_You'll find me where the snowflakes fall._

Johan's head fell back as he sighed in defeat.

He thought about what he had just read. _Crystal ball? The snow globe!_

Reaching into his bag next to the bed, he pulled out the snow globe Elsa had given him. He tried to see if there was a specific place that the snowflakes fell, but there just didn't seem to be. They simply fell on and around the snowflake statue.

Johan began to ponder what this could mean. Was the snowflake meant to represent Elsa in some way? What was that supposed to tell him?

Suddenly, it dawned on the prince that maybe he wasn't supposed to understand. Or maybe, not yet, anyway. Maybe he'd understand in time. Or maybe he'd never understand, but that's okay. For the first time, he felt he didn't really need to.

Sighing, Johan sat up on the bed and returned the snow globe to the bag. Looking into the bag he suddenly noticed his flute case. He pulled it out in a sudden need to play something. He searched in the bag and finally found the music for _Arendelle_. Putting together his flute and laying the unfinished sheet music out on the bed in front of him, the prince sat up straight and began to play.

* * *

**Like I said, I'm going to be posting the epilogue later today, so keep an eye out for that. But in the meantime, I have a challenge for you guys! See if you can guess what the name of the sequel will be, and post it in your review. Hint: it is somewhere in the text of this chapter. Anyone who guesses correctly will be crowned the winner and wins nothing! The answer will be announced when I post the epilogue tonight. Good luck! :-)**

_**Read on, write on, dream on. -bandgeek63**_


	14. Epilogue

**A/N: I guess for the title of the sequel I shouldn't have told you that it was in the text of the chapter, because apparently that made it way too easy! Every single one of you got it right or were at least close enough for my purposes! The title will be "Where the Snowflakes Fall". So keep an eye out for that!**

**In the meantime, this epilogue will lead us into the sequel. So I'm just gonna say thanks for reading "The Girl Behind the Door", and I'll see you in "Where the Snowflakes Fall"! :-D**

**Disclaimer: All this talk of cold weather is depressing me! It's a good thing I don't own Frozen!**

* * *

Queen Elsa sat at her desk in her study, going through countless stacks of paperwork.

It had been almost half a year since the Great Thaw, and Elsa had grown accustomed to the people and to her powers. She enjoyed finally getting to spend some time with her sister, and she _knew_ that Anna enjoyed it too.

Elsa couldn't believe how quickly her sister had grown up. Anna and Kristoff had been in a steady relationship for months, and Elsa had this sneaking suspicion that it wouldn't be long before Kristoff proposed. Elsa was fully ready to give them her blessing when the time came.

A knock at the door broke Elsa out of her thoughts.

"Come in," she said.

The door opened and Anna skipped in merrily.

"Hey, Elsa!" she said.

"Hi, Anna," Elsa replied. "What are you doing here? I thought you were with Kristoff."

"He had to go do something for work," Anna explained. "So it's just you and me tonight! You want to go out and do something?"

"Maybe in a little bit," the queen replied. "I need to finish this paperwork, but then we can do something."

Anna flopped down into the chair across from Elsa and sighed. "(Fine,)" she huffed. Elsa couldn't help but laugh a little at her melodramatic sister.

Another knock came at the door.

"Come in."

A servant opened the door and approached the queen's desk.

"A letter, your majesty," he said holding out an envelope.

"Thank you," Elsa said, taking the letter and putting it aside on the desk as the servant walked out.

Elsa returned to her paperwork as Anna eyed the letter curiously. She picked it up and read the front before proceeding to open it.

"It's rude to read the queen's mail, Anna," Elsa scolded.

"I'm sorry, but it says 'To the Royal Family of Arendelle,'" Anna said, "and that includes me!"

Elsa rolled her eyes as Anna unfolded the letter.

"Ooo! We've been invited to a wedding in a couple of weeks," Anna exclaimed.

Elsa looked up from her paperwork, smiling. "How exciting!" she replied. "I think we could use a vacation."

"I've never been to a wedding before!" Anna mused.

"Neither have I," the queen replied. "So this should be a learning experience for the both of us."

"Can Kristoff come too?"

"Yes of course, Anna. He is a member of this family, too."

"Yay!" the princess exclaimed joyfully.

Elsa sighed as Anna continued to read the letter.

"Who is this wedding for, anyway?" Elsa asked.

Suddenly, Elsa didn't need to hear Anna's response as she noticed the seal on the envelope. She thought her heart stopped as Anna answered her question.

"Princess Leah of Landvik."

* * *

**Ooo! So Johan's older sister is getting married, and Elsa's going to be at the wedding... You see where I'm going with this? They're going to see each other again! :-D**

**To be continued!**

_**Read on, write on, dream on. -bandgeek63**_


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